(The following letter was sent to the mayor and trustees of the Village of Munsey Park and is printed here at the authors' request.)

Once again we must address the deplorable traffic in front of our homes at the eastern end of Park Avenue, the narrow, single lane, curved road leading to Port Washington Boulevard.

We are experiencing more traffic than ever, all day. However between the hours of 5 to 7 p.m. there is complete gridlock. We cannot get in or out of our driveways as we are blocked by the cars going eastbound, and, if we get one of these cars free of our driveways, then we are hampered by cars going westbound.

On Dec. 9, six of our neighbors, three couples, were going to the Don Monti Ball, a fundraiser for North Shore Hospital. We hired a car to take us to this affair. Well, it turned out to be a horrid experience for us and the driver. Once in the Ierardi driveway, he could not get out until traffic cleared for a second or two to let him out. Then it was on to the Rottmund driveway and it was equally awful to get past the westbound traffic and into the east bound lane. Let me tell you it was frustrating for all of us. One couple walked to our driveway to avoid three pickups from these driveways during this extreme traffic volume.

We have begged for some relief of any kind--no left turn from 5 to 7 p.m. on Mondays to Fridays. Nothing was done to help us. Instead you felt you had to take a poll of the village. Instead of residents of Munsey Park cooperating with their besieged neighbors (according to you) they and you decided they couldn't put up with a slight inconvenience during this short interval. What a difference between these people and the cooperation shown by all in Terrace Manor.

When we were faced with a similar situation at the Manor, behind our houses, nobody cared about us. Cars are allowed to park right up to the fence and stadium lights were installed. And it was only with great perseverance on our part that the lights were lowered somewhat. It is too sad a story to go into all of our struggles.

There are restrictive turn signs on Searingtown Road and Port Washington Boulevard. However, when we inquired about this relief we were told it is impossible. You have had many traffic studies made and not one has been tried or implemented. That seems rather foolish and wasteful. As taxpayers we are demanding some relief. We want access to our driveways at all times, as the rest of the village has. No other part of town suffers these conditions. By this severe increase in traffic, our houses have lost value. We feel we have no representation in this village as of this date.

Please help us. Give us some relief. Does a catastrophe have to occur, when getting in or out of our driveways may be a matter of life and death?

When we suggested this no left turn idea, you said it would bring more traffic. At least it would free up our driveways and not create a gridlock each time a vehicle has to turn left. You also said we would be helped by the re-timing of the lights. That is a joke as it has become worse and worse. We need help.

Dr. and Mrs. V. A. LoLordo

Mr. and Mrs. A. Diakoumakis

Mr. and Mrs. V. Ierardi

Mr. and Mrs. R. Pederson

Mr. and Mrs. G. Kivotidis

Mr. and Mrs. J. Rottmund

Mr. and Mr. R. Eng